


Shadows of the Future

by prairiecrow



Series: Terra Incognita [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Knight Rider (1982), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Computer Programming, M/M, Manipulative Nick Fury, Nick Fury Knows All, The Avengers Pull Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-24
Updated: 2013-03-24
Packaged: 2017-12-06 08:30:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/733620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prairiecrow/pseuds/prairiecrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It might take a few years or even a few decades, but S.H.I.E.L.D. would eventually reclaim its own. And what it couldn't reclaim — it would have to destroy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows of the Future

**Author's Note:**

> Set toward the end of "Riding the Dragon".

Nick Fury had a lot of elements on his plate at any given time, roughly fifteen percent of which he couldn't discuss with another living soul beyond the Council. Tony Stark's love life, fortunately, fell into the category of the other eighty-five percent. 

In most respects, anyway. 

Standing with Agent Maria Hill at a wide span of windows overlooking the Helicarrier's upper flight deck, Fury watched as the Avengers walked briskly back to their dedicated quinjet, his attention particularly focussed on Stark, who was bopping along at Steve Rogers' side with a bounce in his step and an almost audible song in his heart. Rogers was carrying the remains of Obsidian with due respect and care, in spite of the fact that the consciousness that had animated it was now safely back in New York City after being extracted from the Helicarrier's own systems not twenty minutes earlier. 

"Assessment?" he queried, and Agent Hill didn't need to ask who he was referring to. 

"He's in love." She spoke flatly, her gaze fixed on the ragged dirty tousle of Stark's hair and his shining ear-to-ear grin. "And that could make him even more dangerous, if he thinks something poses a threat to his A.I." 

Fury nodded, and mused aloud: "The real surprise is how the rest of them rallied around him." 

A curious glance from Hill. "But — that's what you intended, isn't it, Sir?" 

"In part." He clasped his hands behind his back and watched Rogers say something to Stark, something that made the shorter man laugh happily. "KITT's always been an unknown quantity in that particular equation — it all came down to whether they'd decided he was a person or just a convenient tool for the job. If he was a tool, most of them would have left Stark to twist in the wind. If he was a person…" He nodded toward the small group of heroes, walking almost in formation — one of them conspicuously absent. "Which complicates things some." 

"There must be ways to get rid of him. A targeted hunter-killer virus, an EMP burst in the field —" 

Fury shook his head, silencing her at once. "There are. But that's not necessary yet. He brought them together today, and we can use that to our advantage. Besides," and he permitted himself a hint of a smirk, "having a married couple in the mix might bring a bit more stability to the team — and God only knows they could use it." 

"Sir?" This time her expression was one of open surprise. "Stark will sleep with any woman he can get his hands on." 

"Doesn't change the fact he's got a ring on his finger in every way that counts. You think that was an idle threat he made, about bringing this carrier down in flames if we didn't let him get the love of his life back?" 

"It's a machine," Hill said flatly. 

"Not to him." And not to Fury either, not simply or entirely, but that was part of the fifteen percent he kept even from his own second-in-command — hell, there were a few elements in the mix that even the Council didn't suspect. "You said it yourself, Agent — he'll do whatever he has to do to protect it. That's another ace in the hole for our side, if the right set of circumstances ever comes up." 

Hill nodded. "The revenge gambit?" 

Fury dipped his chin, speaking almost to himself: "Point and shoot. He'll annihilate anyone who tries to take KITT away from him — or anyone we tell him was stupid enough to give it a shot." 

"He's smart," Hill remarked.  

"And in love, which has a history of making people spectacularly dumb." He watched Rogers begin to walk up the quinjet ramp with his burden at a measured pace, at Stark's hand laid warmly and briefly on his shoulder, and reflected on the bits of the story that Agent Hill had no way of knowing: that the A.I. they were discussing was vintage S.H.I.E.L.D.-tech from thirty years ago, that Stark knew as much, and that both those factors made an already intricate situation exponentially more complicated.  

Fury would have bet his own left nut that Stark had scanned KITT with a fine-toothed comb looking for S.H.I.E.L.D.-related code — and he knew for certain that Stark had found nothing suspicious, because KITT was no crude two-day knockoff with the serial numbers stamped in big bold indents across his virtual forehead. No, over three years of dedicated work by Emily Anne Crawford, the most brilliant programmer S.H.I.E.L.D. had ever employed, had gone into making him — and with it the secret of chameleon code tech, capable of taking on the shape and processing characteristics of whatever programming environment it was placed in. To Stark and to JARVIS, KITT's code would look like Knight Industries legacy language from top to bottom… but inside that syntax lay unseen quantum connections which could, with the right trigger, awaken to a whole new shape and purpose.  

Maybe. Crawford had died of cancer less than three months after KITT's original program was completed, and the secret of the trigger she'd designed had died with her. Fury had some of his brightest people at work on the problem, and had taken the opportunity of today's events to get some key impressions of KITT"s code from the Helicarrier's systems while Stark was putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. With a little luck that would accelerate his team's progress tremendously — they might have a new trigger constructed, or the old trigger reconstructed, within eight months to a year.  

And when they did… 

Fury honestly didn't begrudge Tony Stark any happiness the man could find. Rich kid or not, he'd had so little of that, and Fury wasn't inclined to take away something he treasured so deeply without a damned good reason. If he could he'd keep the Council off of Tony's back until it was too late to matter, until Tony was dead or dying and KITT — who in spite of being a high-toned razor-tongued son of a bitch was a mind worth being respected — would have good reason to seek another focus for his loyalties. In fact, it would be safe to say that Fury had no desire to cause either of them pain if he could possibly help it.  

But KITT was part of S.H.I.E.L.D., and always had been. It might take a few years or even a few decades, but S.H.I.E.L.D. would eventually reclaim its own. 

And what it couldn't reclaim — it would have to destroy. 

But that was yet to come. In the present, Hill nodded crisply, although the quirk of her eyebrow suggested that she was pretty sure Tony Stark was constitutionally incapable of 'dumb' under any circumstances. And Fury had the sneaking, sinking suspicion that she might very well be right about that. 

He turned away from the windows, already talking about something else. The future he was crafting was a steel trap with merciless jaws, but for today at least he could leave Tony and KITT to whatever measure of joy they were able to find in a world that, most days, was doing its level best to eat them both alive. 

THE END


End file.
